Information may be distributed from the manufacturer of the information to an end user of the information using a retailer. For example, computer software, one type of information, may be distributed by the manufacturer of the computer software to an end user of the program via a retailer who displays the software on his shelves in a store. A retailer can provide services such as personal pre-sale assistance and may offer a selection of products based upon knowledge of the local marketplace not possessed by the manufacturer.
Some conventional information distribution schemes attempt to bypass the retailer and allow the distribution of information such as computer software directly from the manufacturer to the end user. Distribution of computer software from manufacturers to end users via the Internet is one example of such a scheme. The justification for these schemes is that stacks of shelving in large stores holding physical media which contain the information is an inefficient use of real estate and capital when information such as computer software may be sent to an end user electronically. Additionally, new versions of computer software containing bug fixes and/or new functionality are made instantly available to end users instead of being made available only after the existing physical inventory is depleted. However, because such schemes can bypass the retailer altogether, they eliminate the services provided by the conventional retailer, and the end user may suffer.
It is possible to include the retailer in the distribution arrangement, while providing much of the efficiency of electronic distribution of information. For example, the retailer may request information to be sent electronically from a manufacturer after consultation with the end user, and the retailer may place the information on a physical medium such as a CD-ROM disc for use by the end user. This allows the retailer to provide an end user a large selection of information without storing all of it in a large retail store, eliminating the carrying costs and much of the real estate costs associated with a conventional retailer. Such a distribution system may allow a retailer to offer a larger selection to end users than would be otherwise economically feasible where information is packaged and stored on a shelf.
Where the amount of information requested by the retailer is large, the time required to receive the information may be unacceptably long due to communication delays. For example, if an end user requests several computer software titles averaging five megabytes each, downloading can take several minutes or more, and the end user may not wish to wait that period of time. An alternative arrangement, whereby each retailer stores all of the available information on a computer storage media such as a hard disk, and then generates the information requested by an end user on a second storage medium such as a CD-ROM may require the retailer to choose between offering a large amount of information at an unacceptably high storage cost, and offering an unacceptably small amount of information compared with the requirements of the end users who visit the store.